Electronic devices that contain semiconducting material are known to be occasionally susceptible to visible light. That is, photons impinging upon the semiconducting media can cause an anomalous electrical transference that can either damage the device or create spurious signals. Encapsulation of the devices by an optically opaque material prevents these problems, but not all semiconductor devices can be so protected. Encapsulation with opaque material hinders visual quality inspection and/or pattern recognition, and prevents light from emanating from the device. In addition, some light sensitive printed electronics have the unusual characteristic in which initial exposure to certain wavelengths of visible and/or non-visible light can be beneficial to their electrical performance. In these cases, a permanent light barrier is certainly not practical. But, in many devices, prolonged exposure to these certain wavelengths can be damaging, thus some sort of light barrier is desirable. Some have attempted to solve this dilemma by employing a mechanical shutter system in the prior art, but this is clearly not practical in today's world of miniature microelectronics.
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